OK guys, started my lowering shackle replacement. Got the bottom bolt out with minor sweat...the top bolt??? I got maybe 1/4" out and now it will not budge. I can spin it by hand so it is not bound up. I have beat the crap out of it with a dead blow and a ball peen (bad idea, now I have to file down where I mushroomed the head a little). Is there something holding that little bugger in there? A C-clip or something? I am SO CLOSE! What am I missing?

 

nothing holding it in there except the metal sleeve of the bushing. What usually ends up happening is the bolt rubs into the bushing sleeve and they try to become one...

To get it out you can try using a pickle fork to pry on the head end of it as you beat it with a sledge from the other side. sometimes they're just a royal pain in the ****... Take a ride down to harbor freight across from the mini dealer over on peteres creek, they should have em for cheap...

 

yeah, i'm able to get a crow bar on it but it still wont budge. I dont want to destroy it cause I dont have a replacement. i'll keep on trying....

 

you'll need something to help pry as you hammer it... you can also put the nut back on the end of it to keep from buggering it up too bad, but you may bugger the nut.

Remember, your trying to hammer on something thats suspended in a rubber bushing. its gonna absorb alot of the force when you strike it if you dont have opposing pulling force on the other side to help recover the energy.

 

and there is not much room to swing a hammer either....so after nearly 5 hours and several bloody knuckles and a bloody elbow (dont ask how) I gave up for tonight. put everything back together. will go get one of those fork things tomorrow and try again. Murphy lives in my house.

 

yeah.. pick up some mechanics gloves too.. I swear by those things...

 

lol....i got some, just never remember to wear them..lol

 

yeah.. Mechanics gloves are kinda like condoms... just cause you had good intentions and actually bought em doesn't mean there doin a $#!# bit of good if you don't use em when your supposed to...

 

 

Run it back into the bushing. There is probably a lot of dirt and rust between the bolt and the inner sleeve of the bushing. running the bolt both in and out can help break up any of this dirt and rust, and work it out of the sleeve.

Lots of penetrating fluid helps.

At least you have it spinning, I had to cut all 4 lower control arm bolts on my '05 to replace the ball joints. The bolts cost me $25 EACH. They were dealer only bolts. Even after cutting the bolts it still took an average of an hour and a half to remove the remaining bits of bolts from the control arm bushings, drilling them and using a 12 ton press.

Oh, once you do have it out and get to re-assembly, put some anti-seize compound on the bolt to make sure that it doesn't get rusted in there again.